Reice Wills – Southampton

October 2018

Pervert asked 12-year-old for sex over Facebook

A Southampton man has been jailed for asking a 12 year old girl for sex.

Reice John Wills was convicted at Southampton Crown Court after he was caught messaging the girl on Facebook.

Southampton Crown Court heard how Wills contacted the girl on messenger in July this year – making obscene suggestions of how they could celebrate the girl’s thirteenth birthday.

But it also heard how Wills spent time in the attic of his mother’s house alone – and had a history of being bullied.

The court was told how the 24 year old suffers from a limp, a speech impediment, cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

Richard Tutt, mitigating, said Wills knew he had been “extraordinarily foolish” but that he was “remorseful” and had acted out of “desperation.”

He added that Wills is “quite an isolated young man” with “only one loyal friend” and said: “He has been bullied throughout his life. It has made him socially isolated and tends to spend a lot of time inside.

“His self-confidence is quite low, his self esteem is quite low. He has access to the internet. It’s easy for him to get gratification from younger girls.

“The reason he has done that is because of the way he has been feeling about himself.”

Mr Tutt went on to say Wills had “no intention of doing anything” with the girl he messaged – and that he has “struggled to form age appropriate relationships.”

But he also said that Wills “fears for the future” and is keen to find “purpose in life,” – concluding his mitigation by saying Wills “is in a sad place and it’s from that position that he comes from.”

But handing the two year eight month sentence to Wills, Judge Parker said Wills had “specifically targeted a 12 or 13 year-old girl as she was a relatively easy target.”

He added: “You are either in denial of the fact that you have an unsavoury interest in teenage girls or you have no understanding or insight into that concern of yours in children.

“It is obvious that you are sexually active. You pose a significant risk of serious harm to these girls and it’s very difficult to see how long that will last.

“Either you recognise or not what you have done causes very serious harm to young girls.”

In the summer of 2016 Wills, of Blackthorn Road Southampton, pleaded guilty to causing a child of under 16 to watch a sexual activity and asking her to undress.

He was handed a 12 month suspended sentence.

On October 19 this year Wills was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison for inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, breaching a sexual harm prevention order by deleting internet history, having unsupervised contact with an under 16-year-old, and failing to comply with notification requirements.

On his release he will also have to serve an extended licence period of six years’ supervision from the authorities.